Blundering tour guide says Scotland is independent

Picture: AP

A German tour guide to Scotland has been forced to retract a string of errors about the country, including assertions that Scotland is already an independent country and that the nation’s bank notes are not valid in the rest of the UK.

Marco Polo claims Scotland is infested with mosquitos from May to September, and also says Perth and Stirling are located in the Highlands.

Another highlighted error - which may admittedly have been made with tongue firmly in cheek - is the claim that men wearing kilts will perform cartwheels to prove they are ‘real Scotsmen’.

Author Martin Muller writes in the book: “To see men in skirts you should visit one of Scotland’s many folk festivals.

“As a Scotsman what he is wearing under his kilt and he may do a cartwheel to satisfy your curiousity.”

Of Scotland’s supposed autonomy from the rest of the UK, Muller says: “The Scots are independent and have had their own parliament since 1999.”

The guide book goes on to mention Scotland’s “cholestorol-rich” breakfasts and questions the country’s commitment to green energy by saying most hotels and guests houses use old sash windows.

The publisher of the book said it planned to correct the errors in the next edition.